Rape Case: Supreme Court Extends Anticipatory Bail Granted to Malayalam Actor Siddique

In a recent development in a rape case registered against Malayalam actor Siddique, the Supreme Court (SC) of India extended interim anticipatory bail granted to him. The hearing was adjourned today after Senior Advocate V Giri who appeared for Siddique sought time to file a rejoinder to the Kerala Police’s status report that opposed his petition. The matter was heard today (October 22, 2024) by a two-judge bench of the SC constituting Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma. While hearing the matter, Justice Trivedi pointed out that the victim filed the complaint 8 years after the alleged incident. During the proceedings, Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the State of Kerala, submitted that Malayalam actor Siddique was not cooperating with the investigation and was destroying the evidence. He added that the reason behind filing the complaint late was that the Justice Hema Committee's report on women abuse in the Malayalam cinema industry was published later. He further said that the victim mustered the courage to come up with the allegations following the publication of the Hema Committee’s report. He said, “From 2018 onwards on Facebook she has been continuously writing.” Further, he submitted, “My apprehension is two-fold. One is, that he is not cooperating. When he is coming, he comes with a prepared statement that he won't answer anything more and that he can't recollect. Second, after the FIR, he closed his Facebook account. He does not want us to get access to that. We have to approach third parties to access.” Yesterday (October 21, 2024), a status report by the Kerala Police was filed opposing Siddique’s bail.